Hand-stamp for post-office use.



No. 672,226. Patented Apr. l6, I901.

- C. J. DOBT-ICUS.

HAND STAMP FOB PQST-OFFICE USE.

WITNESSES I I BY m2 NORRIS rams co ,guovo-umo WASHINGTON, xi-Q Sternearen't Option,

OLATONIA J. DORTIOUS, OF NEWTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE DORTIOUSMANUFACTURING 00., OF COLORADO.

HAND STAMP FOR POST OIFFICE USE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 672,226, dated April16, 1901.

Application filed September 2, 1898. Renewed August 27, 1900. Serial No.28,128. (No model.)

T0 to whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLATONIA J. Don'rrons, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Newton, in the county of Sussex and State ofNew Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Hand-Stamps forPost-Office Use, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to that class of hand printing-stampsparticularly designed for use in minor post-offices in canceling stampsor postmarking mail-matter; and it consists in the peculiar constructionthereof hereinafter described, and particularly set forth in the claims.

In my application for Letters Patent filed of even date herewith (SerialNo. 690,125) I have shown and described and claimed generically severalforms of hand-stamps for post-office use, in each of which the partwhich imprints the postmark is mounted yieldingly in a jacket and withits imprinting-surface normally above the plane of the striking edge ofsaid jacket,and in each of which also the construction is such as thatthe printing-face of the die which imprints the postmark may assume aposition inclined to the striking edge of the jacket, whereby when thestriking edge of the jacket is brought into contact with the surface tobe postmarked the die will move forward in the jacket and imprint onsaid surface the data to be indicated by the stamp and will beinstantaneously withdrawn to and held in its normal position, and ifsaid striking edge is not caused to hit said surface squarely said diewill be enabled to assume a plane parallel to said surface and willimprint the whole of its matter thereon, thus assuring an unblurred andcomplete impression of the entire postmark under all ordinarycircumstances of use. The die, or that portion of the stamp which formsthe postmark, is in all post-office stamps the expensive part thereof,and as said die or printing portion in all previous proposals with whichI am acquainted is brought into contact with the surface to be imprintedwith the whole of the force exercised by the user said die wears outmuch more rapidly than it does in the present construction, in which thedie that is to say, the printing portion of the stampc0ntacts thesurface to be imprinted with much less force than does the striking edgeof the jacket, whereby the life of the printing portion of the stamp isprolonged in comparison with those previously used and proposed.

Among the several forms of devices shown in my said application SerialNo. 690,125 there are several which in common with each other arefurther distinguished from previous proposals in that the connectionbetween the jacket and the handle is a separable one, whereby provisionis made by which the jacket only, which forms a very inexpensive part ofthe structure, largely because it is not formed to print any materialpart of the postmark, is required to be replaced when its striking edgebecomes worn from use. Hence the use of these latter forms of myinvention involves a minimum expenditure for renewal of parts, inaddition to including a postmarking-die having a maximum length of life.In

some of the latter forms of my devices the construction is such as toboth cancel stamps and postmark letters or other articles, and in one ofthe same (which is made the subjectmatter of my application Serial No.690,849, filed September 13, 1898) the parts are of special formthroughout, while the other construction (made the subject-matter of myapplication Serial No. 690,850) is such as to utilize the postmarkingand stamp-canceling die now used in post-offices and necessitates butslight change therein to adapt it to the jacket.

The present application is generic to that type of the invention abovereferred to, in which the connection between the handle and the jacketis a separable one, and is specific to a subordinate species of theinvention, in which the stamp is intended for postmarking or cancelingalone, and in which the handle is vertical (instead of substantiallyhorizontal, as in the other forms referred to) and must be separatedfrom the jacket in order to afford access to the die and the means forsupporting the die yieldingly in the jacket. This subordinate speciesmay be embodied in different forms of mechanism, some of which,differing from each other in minor details, are shown in theaccompanying draw lngs.

case may be, and a spring for supporting said die normally in elevatedposition with its imprinting-surface above the lower edge of saidcylinder and with the walls of the cylinder and die of such relativeconstruction as that the die will be movable laterally within thecylinder. In each form the die and the spring supporting it are whollyinclosed within said cylinder, the handle projects vertically above thecylinder, and the connection between the handle and cylinder is of suchnature as to permit one to be removed from the other to afford access tothe die when it is desired to remove the latter for renewal or repair.The cylinder inclosing the die is hereinafter termed a jacket.

A designates the handle in each form. In the forms shown in Figs. 1 toat, inclusive, this handle is provided with a depending tube B, withinthe lower end of which latter is inserted the upper end of a jacket 0.Within the lower portion of said jacket there is mounted a die F or F,which is in the form of a frustum ofa cone, and said die has avertically-extending shaft or rod G or G, which is encircled by a coiledspring I or I, the upper end of which bears upon a nut H or H, threadedupon said shaft, and the lower end of which has a suitable support, ashereinafterdescribed. This spring operates to hold the die normally inelevated position and with its imprinting-surface abovethe lower orstriking edge Eof the jacket, and its tension is such as that when saidedge E is brought into contact with the surface to be printed the forceof the impact thereby created overcomes the power of the spring, and thedie moves forward in the jacket and imprints on said surface and isimmediately returned to and held in its elevated position. This insuresa clean unblurred impression.

As stated above, the wall of the jacket continguous to the die and saiddie are of such relative forms as to permit the latter to move laterallywithin the jacket. This is important, in that it assures a completeimpression of all the matter on the die whether the-striking edge E hitsthe surface to be printed at a slight inclination to the plane of saidsurface (and thus with greater force at one place than another) or in aplane parallel to said surface. In the form shown in Fig. 5 the jacket 0is attached by screw-threads directly to the handle, the tube B beingdispensed with. Referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the jacket 0has an offset D at about its longitudinal center, that it widens rapidlyfrom said offset to its edge E, and that the springI is seated directlyupon said offset, while in the form shown in Fig. 4 the offset D is veryslight, and the inclination of the walls of the jacket iscorrespondingly slight, and a ring J rests upon said offset and affordsthe support for the spring I. I11 the form shown in Fig. 5 the wall ofthe portion of the jacket which contains said die is vertical, and aring J is attached to said wall for the purpose of supporting saidspring.

In each form of device the opening through which the rod or shaft of thedie projects is of greater diameter than said rod or shaft, so as to notinterfere with the lateral play of the die.

postmarking and is of that well-known construction thereof in which thedating portion is removable. In this event the screw K, which securessaid dating portion in place, projects through an opening L in thejacket, which opening is so proportioned to the screw as to permit thelatter to move longitudinally and laterally thereof.

If desired, the jacket may be formed or provided with a ring or offsetto limit the inward movement of said jacket within the tube B, as shownat M, Fig. 4.

When access to the die is desired, the jacket is withdrawn from the tubeB, within which it is held by friction in the constructions shown inFigs. 1 to 4, inclusive, or the handle is unscrewed from the jacket withthe construction shown in Fig. 5. When this has been done, the tensionof the spring supporting the die may be adjusted, or the die may bereadily removed from the jacket, if desired.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is- 1. In ahand-stamp, the combination of the handle, a jacket removably connectedwith said handle and having a plain striking edge, and animprinting-die, carrying all the printing characters yieldinglysupported in said jacket with its imprinting-surface normally above theplane of said striking edge and separable from said jacket.

2. In a hand-stamp, the combination with the handle, of the jacketremovably connected thereto and having a striking edge, and the diemovably mounted in said jacket with its imprinting-surface normallyabove the plane of said striking edge, said jacket and die beingrelatively constructed so that the die may assume a position inclined tothe striking edge of the jacket when the die is in printing position.

3. In a hand-stamp, the combination of the jacket, a handle closing theupper end of said jacket and rigidly and removably connected therewith,and a yieldingly-supported die, removably mounted in said jacket withits printing-surface normally above the striking edge thereof.

4.. In a hand-stamp, the combination of the jacket having a strikingedge, a die in the ing edge, a die mounted in the lower portion of saidjacket and having a shaft in the upper portion thereof, and a springengaging said shaft and operating to support said die yieldingly in thejacket with its imprintingsurface normally above the plane of saidstrikin g edge, said die and its yielding support being removable fromthe jacket and said han dle closing the upper portion of the jacket.

6. The herein-described hand-stamp, consisting of a handle having adepending tube, a jacket removably inserted in said tube and projectingbelow the same, said jacket having a striking edge, a die in the lowerportion of said jacket and formed relatively thereto to permit lateralplay, a shaft extending from said die into the upper portion of saidjacket, a nut threaded on the upper end of said shaft, a spring in theupper portion of said jacket, engaging said nut and operating to holdthe die normally elevated within the jacket and to return it to itselevated position instantaneously upon the completion of an imprint,substantially as described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 1st day of September, A. D. 1898.

OLATONIA J. DORTICUS.

WVitnesses:

C. J. STOCKMAN, E. F. GENNERT.

